I don't know about you but I've been on a windy lake with just acanoe and small motor and we were just fine. But usually I fish in a 14 ft alumacraftwith a 5 horse 1963 Johnson motor.I really don't under stand the need for a boat bigger than 16 ft unless your in really rough water. Also I think that it's pointless to buy one of those Ranger or the really fancy ones unless your going to be doing some big tournaments.